Awakening
by Desk 216
Summary: Four sisters stumble upon a secret that has been hidden for decades. Heroes will rise, a prophesy may yet be fulfilled... Or the darkness shall sweep over us all. Destinies Entangled, Part 1.
1. Prologue

**Memorandum**

 **To: REDACTED**

 **From: REDACTED**

 **Subject: Awakening**

 **It has come to our attention that an entrance to Location 154B (common name "Juncture") has been compromised. Remarkably, this intrusion seems to correlate with the prediction made by subject B001 almost seventy cycles prior. We are monitoring the situation, and are prepared to sterilize the incident if necessary.**

 **I have attached a brief summary of the incident, along with several items relevant to B001's description of the breach.**

* * *

It all started with a badly aimed soccer ball. If their family trip to Point Mouette hadn't been abruptly cancelled, if it hadn't been such a perfect day for soccer, or if Batty's wild kick had been slightly to the left or the right, the wonderful and terrible adventures might have never happened at all, and their lives would have turned out so very different.

For years, the sisters debated this, never seeming to come to an agreement on the matter. Jane always insisted that it had been their destiny to discover the book, and if it hadn't been for the soccer ball, surely some twist of fate would have lured them away from their mundane lives and into Juncture. However, whenever she said this, Skye would always scoff.

"It was just dumb luck that the five of us found that stupid book." her sister would insist.

"Six of us!" Batty would interject, hugging Hound so that he wouldn't feel forgotten.

"If we hadn't found it, someone else would have been dragged into Ania's delusions, and we could have enjoyed the rest of an uneventful summer." Skye would continue, as though Batty hadn't spoken.

"More like the rest of an uneventful life." Jeffrey would say, patting Batty on the shoulder to reassure her that Hound's part hadn't been forgotten.

"But would that have been better?" Rosalind would ask, and the group would usually fall silent, remembering what had happened, and pondering what could have been. Nonetheless, the ball had been kicked, the book had been found, and the adventures had happened, though for better or worse never seemed to be decided.


	2. Soccer

**"But will they be strong enough?"**  
 **"Who knows? All we can do is show them the way."**

 **-Conversation between B001 and A013. Recorded at 0634, 75 years prior.**

* * *

"I'm bored." Skye said, throwing down her book and rolling off the couch. "How long until Jeffrey gets here?"

"Twenty two hours." Rosalind replied. "Assuming Mrs. TD doesn't change her mind again.

Skye scowled at the name. "She probably will. That woman centers her life around making us miserable."

"But Jeffrey promised." Batty said, hugging Hound. "He said that he'd come, even if he had to run away again."

"Alas, the sisters languished, bereft of their greatest companion." Jane said. "Would the poor lad return to them, or would he remain a prisoner of the wicked Mrs. Dupre?"

Rosalind frowned. If Jane was breaking out in bookspeak, the sisters' moods must be even worse than she thought. "Instead of sitting around worrying, why don't we do something to pass the time?" she said.

"Like what?" Skye asked.

"We could play a board game." Rosalind suggested. "It's been a while since we played Clue."

"We stopped playing Clue because Skye always won." Jane said.

"Can I help it if logical deduction works?" Skye asked.

"Let's play Aztecs!" Batty said.

"Absolutely not." Rosalind said. "After Jane's play, I've had enough human sacrifice to last a lifetime."

"How about soccer in the woods?" Jane suggested. "Skye and I could use the practice."

No one could think of a better idea, so the sisters set off into the woods, the soccer ball tucked under Skye's arm. Hound ran ahead, sniffing for anything that might try to hurt Batty.

A few minutes later, they arrived at their favorite soccer spot, a small grassy clearing. On one end, a marble statue stood with crossed arms. People said that the statue was supposed to be George Washington, but the sisters had never seen the resemblance.

"Goals will be here and here." Jane said, marking the boundaries. "That big tree will be the center line."

"Game on!" Skye called.

* * *

Jane raced down the field, stopping Rosalind's clumsy kick. She darted around Skye, then headed towards the goal, only to be blocked by Rosalind.

"Pass it to me!" Batty called. Circling her legs, Hound barked in agreement.

As passing the ball to Batty was only slightly more reliable than passing to Hound, Jane looked backwards, trying to decide if she could evade her sister. Drat. Skye was coming in fast from behind, ready for such an attempt. Jane looked forwards again, hoping that Rosalind might have swung off to guard Batty. Double Drat. Rosalind was holding close, blocking all access to the goal. Out of options, Jane gritted her teeth, then sent the ball soaring to Batty.

Skye grunted in surprise at Jane's kick, then swung off to pursue. When Batty realized the ball was coming at her, she yelped, barely refraining from grabbing it out of the air. The ball bounced off Batty and landed at her feet, and the little girl stared at it for several long moments, before she looked up and realized that Skye was coming directly at her. Batty wound back, closed her eyes, then booted the ball as hard as she could in the general direction of the goal.

It was off by a mile. Jane groaned as the ball bounced off George Washington's face, then rolled away into the woods. "I'll get it." she said, jogging off the field.

"Wait." Rosalind said. "I think we broke it."  
Jane turned back. Sure enough, the president's head was bent backwards at a steep angle, as though he had suddenly decided that it looked like rain.  
"You mean Batty broke it." Skye said, glaring at her little sister."

"I didn't!" Batty protested, and Hound barked in agreement.

As Skye and Batty began to argue, Rosalind took a closer look at the statue. "I'm not sure if it actually was broken." she said. "Look, the head's on hinges."  
"Why would it need to be hinged?" Jane asked, but Rosalind just shrugged.  
"One way to find out." Skye said, then turned to Jane. "Boost me up."

Jane knelt, and Skye climbed onto her shoulders. Jane stood, and Skye leaned against the statue for support. "See anything?" Jane called, watching as Skye studied the neck.

"It's definitely supposed to tilt." Skye said, pushing the head back and forth to demonstrate. "And underneath, there's some sort of… HEY!"

Jane's foot had slipped, and Skye began to sway back and forth. Skye grabbed at the statue to steady herself, but there was a loud click, and her hand came free.

Jane tried to stumble backwards to compensate, but backed into Rosalind, and the three of them went down in a tangle of arms and legs.  
"Someone's foot is in my face." Skye complained.

"Sorry" Jane said, pulling herself free of the pile.

As the sisters stood, a rumbling sound issued from the statue. Jane turned, looked, and her eyes widened. The front portion of the pedestal had begun to sink into the ground, revealing a dark opening.

"What in the world?" Rosalind asked. "Did you do that, Skye?"  
Skye shrugged. "There was a lever under the head. Maybe that's some sort of maintenance panel?

"But what would you need to maintain?" Rosalind asked. "It's a statue."

Batty knelt, and reached into the opening. Before Rosalind could tell her to stop, she had pulled out a small green book.

"Whoa" Batty gasped as she opened the cover. She reached to touch the page, then she vanished in a shower of golden light. Unsupported, the book toppled onto the leaves.


	3. The Book

**"A cage of lightning! Yes, that is how they can contain the dream master!"**

 **-Spoken by B001, twenty minutes before she ceased.**

 **-Recorded at 2245, 75 years prior.**

* * *

Hound began to bark the alarm as the sisters sprinted towards where Batty had been standing mere moments before.

Jane immediately knew what had happened. "She's been summoned, snatched away into a world beyond our imagination!" she cried. "Just like what happened to the Pevensies in Prin-OW!" Skye had punched her in the arm.

"Get a hold of yourself." her sister growled. "It's obviously some sort of prank." she knelt, and began to sweep at the ground. "I bet those idiot Geiger brothers were behind it. Give me a hand, will you?"

Meanwhile, Hound had begun to nose at the discarded book, as though Batty might be hiding between the pages. Rosalind dragged him backwards, and picked up the book herself. She carefully examined the cover, then opened it.

"No way." she said, eyes widening. "Look at this."

Skye and Jane looked over Rosalind's shoulder. On the first page, a picture stretched across the top. The image showed a stone chamber with metal support beams. In the center of the picture, a red book sat on top of a marble pedestal. However, what truly drew the sisters' attention was how the image _moved._

The view slowly panned around the pedestal, revealing a tunnel that lead away from the room. "What the heck?" Skye demanded. She turned the page, checking for electronics, but the next page only contained a series of strange symbols. She turned more pages, seeing lines of writing. "Rosalind, you're good with cursive. What does it say?" Skye asked, handing the book back.

Rosalind examined the writing carefully. "It's just a description of that picture."  
Rosalind turned back to the front page, then started. A girl with brown hair was now inside the room, in front of the pedestal.

Jane leaned forwards. "Is that Batty?"

The next moment Batty was back, materialized right in front of them. Jane yelped and drew back.

Batty didn't seem to notice their alarm. "Hound!" she called. "I found a palace!"

"You found a what?" Skye demanded. "And where's your jacket?"

"It's inside the palace!" Batty said. "C'mon!"

Before anyone could stop her, Batty turned around and touched the image. Again, she vanished.

Skye reached forwards to copy Batty's action, but Rosalind grabbed her arm. "Wait." she said. "Is this a really a good idea?"

"Sabrina Star never shies away from the unknown" Jane declared. "She relishes the chance for adventure"

Skye looked ready to explode. "I can't believe you!" she snapped. "We've just watched our little sister disappear in front of our eyes, and you've got nothing better to do than bring up your idiotic stories?"

Jane drew back, hurt. "They're not idiotic!"

Before her sisters could start a full argument, Rosalind stepped in between them. "Order." she said, cutting off Skye's retort. "So, do we go?"

Jane opened her mouth to reply, and Rosalind gave her a stern look. "No Sabrina Star." she said.

"I suppose we can't really abandon Batty." Skye said.

"It'll be fun!" Jane said.

"I'll go first, then come straight back." Rosalind said. "If I'm not back in five minutes, run home and call Daddy."

"Forget that." Skye said. "We've already watched Batty go in and back, if any of us go through, I vote that we all go together."  
"I second that!" Jane said.

Rosalind sighed. "I guess I've been overruled."

Skye leaned the book against the base of the statue, and the sisters joined hands. Jane reached forwards, touched the panel, then everything blurred and vanished into black.

* * *

For a second, they hung in darkness. Rosalind thought she heard a chord echoing through the blackness, but before she could be sure, it was gone as light returned, blinding her.

Rosalind stumbled, releasing Jane and Skye as she got her bearings. They were standing in the same stone hallway from the book.

"Rosalind!" Batty called from up ahead. She was standing at the top of a ladder, trying to carry Hound down.

Skye and Jane had already begun to jog down the corridor. While Jane helped Batty haul the struggling dog into her arms, Skye clambered down to investigate further.

Rosalind picked up the red book and tucked it into her backpack. "If we need to make a speedy exit, I'd rather not have to climb up a ladder." she explained.

"Hey!" Skye's voice echoed from below. Rosalind looked down, and saw Skye standing at the bottom. "You've got to see this!"

In the end, it took quite a while to get everyone down, mostly on Hound's account. While the ladder wasn't particularly high, Hound had absolutely no interest in being carried down it. Jane suggested that Hound could wait for them at the top of the ladder, but Batty was adamant that Hound needed to see the palace. All the time, Skye was dancing at the base of the ladder, encouraging them to pick up the pace. Finally, Rosalind managed to wrestle the dog into her arms, then Batty scampered down ahead of Rosalind. While Hound hated the idea of going down a ladder, he found it preferable to being seperated from Batty, so he allowed himself to be carried to the bottom.

Rosalind gaped as she reached the bottom. The room was circular, with glass wall spanning halfway across. Through the glass, a massive planet was suspended below them. In the distance, a blue sun shimmered, partially eclipsed by the planet. Skye had her face pressed against the glass, staring out into the abyss.


	4. Juncture

**"It will depend on Duty, you know.**

 **If the Captain lacks the courage to perform his duty, they won't even escape the mindslavers"**

 **-Spoken by B001, three hours before she ceased.**

 **-Recorded at 1732, 75 years prior.**

* * *

Skye turned as Rosalind stepped to the floor. "Isn't it amazing?" she asked. "No one's ever traveled to another planet, let along another solar system."

"Someone had to have." Rosalind pointed out, gesturing to the walls around them. "How else would all this get here?"

"Maybe it was put here by magic!" Jane suggested.

"Magic doesn't exist." Skye said.

"Magic doesn't exist?" Rosalind asked incredulously. "We just teleported with a book."

"Just unexplained science." Skye said, crossing her arms. "Back in the Dark Ages, you'd be burned for witchcraft by turning on a flashlight. This is no different."

Hound barked, then sprinted down the corridor. "Wait for me!" Batty called, following him.

"Batty!" Rosalind called. "Don't run ahead…" Batty had already vanished around a corner. Rosalind sprinted after her.

Skye sighed, then she and Jane followed. As they turned the corner, Skye drew up, nearly colliding with Rosalind. Her sister was standing in a doorway, looking at the far wall in astonishment. "You know what you said before?" Rosalind asked. "How everything has some sort of scientific explanation?"

"What?" Skye demanded, trying to look over Rosalind's shoulder. "What's so… oh."

The far wall was covered in a mural depicting four girls of various ages. Three of the girls had curly brown hair, and the other's hair was long and blonde. A large shaggy dog sat by the shortest figure, who was busy petting him.

"Woof" Hound said, as Batty stroked his fur.

"This is going to be hard to explain." Rosalind said.

* * *

Skye pushed past Rosalind and approached the painting. "It could be a coincidence..." she said doubtfully. "But I'll admit, that seems pretty unlikely."

"Maybe the book explains" Jane suggested.

"Book?" Rosalind asked, confused.

"Down there!" Jane said, pointing. "Below the painting!"

Sure enough, a small book was lying on a small shelf, next to a strange red handle. The book's binding was black, and both the cover and spine were unmarked.

"Maybe that's another teleport book?" Skye suggested

Rosalind picked up the book and opened the front cover. Unlike the previous two books, there was no moving image on the first page. "Not a teleporter." she remarked, then looked closer. Instead, lines of careful script covered the page, with dates above each paragraph. "It looks like someone's diary."

"What does it say?" Batty asked eagerly.

"Yeah, read it out loud!" Skye said.

Rosalind sat down, her back to the painting. Her sisters settled themselves in a semicircle around her, with Hound curled between Batty and Jane. Rosalind took a deep breath, then began to read.

 _\- Arrived in Juncture today. Sealed the linking chamber to D'ni, hopefully that will hold the Sickness back. Merciful Grower, how many died today? How could anyone imagine this, even a madman? We have six months of supplies, which should allow us to wait for rescue, if there's any rescue to come. If not… well, we've got linking books to five mostly unexplored Ages, one of them may be untouched by the plague._

 _During the evacuation from the Sickness, Ania collapsed, apparently caught up in a premonition. Our family always has had a knack for the Sight, but we've never heard of it appearing in someone so young. She hasn't said much about what she saw, but in this troubled time, perhaps it will help us to halt this devastation_

 _\- Ania gathered us today, and explained her vision in detail. There is no possible way for us to cure the Sickness, but we may yet be able to preserve our civilization from total collapse._ _I don't know what's so important about my invention, but Ania has assured us that it will be critical in ensuring the survival of the D'ni. Construction has begun on this new project, which we have christened the "Horizon"._

 _\- In spite of our best efforts, it's apparent that the Sickness has followed us. We've got limited medical supplies, but they won't be able to do anything more than slow its progression. Instead of six months, we'll be lucky to survive a couple of weeks. Father's put us on double shifts in the meantime, trying to outrace it._

 _\- Ania has fallen ill. We're giving her the best treatment we can provide at this time, but what good is that, without a cure for the disease? We've put everything we have into her prophesy, and I don't know how we'll continue without the prophet._

 _\- Work is going smoothly. I finished assembling the Link drive this afternoon, and the weapon systems are being installed as I write. I don't know why the Horizon would need weapons, considering the circumstances of interage travel, but Ania has insisted that they are necessary. Ania herself spent the day painting a mural on the linking chamber walls. I asked her it's supposed to help save the D'ni, but she just pointed at her painting and said the blonde girl thinks she's crazy._

 _\- Ania has taken a turn for the worse. She tossed and turned all night, muttering nonsense and talking to imaginary people. Father told me to record what I could understand, in case they were prophetic._

" _Woven Magic"_

" _The Sun, the Moon, the Bow, and the Dragon"_

" _Stranger's Blood."_

Rosalind paused, then looked up. "It goes on for another three pages with this sort of stuff. Do you want me to read it all, or should I skip ahead?"

"Skip ahead." Batty said

"Please" Skye agreed.

 _\- Ania died this morning._ Jane let out a small gasp of horror, and Batty buried her face into Hound's side. _Before she died, Ania spoke to me in private. She knew that we wouldn't live to make the journey. The survival of our people will depend on others, strangers who will someday find this world, and complete the journey we prepared for. I thought that I was keeping this journal for myself, but it appears that the burden of our people will rest on my poor retelling. We are few in number, and those who still survive will soon be dead from the sickness. We have placed the station into hibernation to await these travelers._

 _To whoever is reading this, you must reawaken this world from its slumber. The future of both our people and yours depend on it._

* * *

Rosalind stopped reading and closed the book. "That's the last entry. All the pages afterwards are blank."

A tear rolled down Jane's face. "None of them made it."

"They'd probably be dead by now anyway" Skye remarked. "That statue hadn't been opened in decades."

Rosalind turned back towards the painting. "It's crude, but that sure looks like us." she mused, trailing her fingers over the canvas.

Skye pushed past her to examine the handle. "So this is how you activate the station?" she asked, tapping it. "It looks like you need to twist it, then push down."

"Don't touch it!" Rosalind yelped, yanking her sister's arm away from the panel.

"Calm down." Skye said. "I wasn't going to actually do it, yet."

"I think we should leave and get Daddy." Rosalind said. "we've our luck far enough."

"We can't!" Jane cried. "The journal made it clear, it's our destiny to turn it on!"

"Seriously?" Skye asked. "We don't have to do something just because an old book told us to."

"Yes we do!" Batty said. "She knew about Hound!"

"Order!" Rosalind shouted, pounding her fist against the wall, and cutting off the developing argument. "We'll vote on it."

"Sounds fair to me." Skye said. "Who goes first?"

"Batty?" Rosalind asked. "What do you think we should do?"

"We need to do it!" Batty said. "Ania said so!"

"Okay, one vote in favor." Rosalind said. "Jane?"

"We were summoned to this world for a purpose!" Jane said. "It is our duty, nay, our destiny to turn that switch!"

"Skye?"

Skye stayed silent for a long moment, considering. "I guess not." she finally said. "I'm curious, but we can't be sure if it's still safe."

"So, what do you vote?" Jane asked Rosalind.

"No." Rosalind replied. "we're out of our depth here. We need to get an adult's opinion before we do anything."

"two-two." Skye said. "Now what?"

"Hound hasn't voted yet!" Batty said.

"Let me guess" Rosalind said. "Hound supports your opinion wholeheartedly?"

"Woof." Hound agreed.

"Does anyone have a quarter?" Jane suggested. "We could flip for it."

"Nope." Skye said, turning out her pockets.

"I've got one." Rosalind said. "Heads, we go, Tails, we leave. Alright?"

"Deal." Jane said, and Rosalind flung the coin into the air. It flashed as it spun, bounced against the tile, then rolled down the grate. The sisters groaned.

Skye crouched down and peered through the slats. "I can't see it."

"That was my last coin" Rosalind said, fishing around in her pocket.

"So what?" Jane asked. "Rock Paper Scissors?"

"We could let Hound decide." Batty suggested.

"We don't have any biscuits." Rosalind said.

"We could go get some" Batty said.

Skye sighed. "Forget it, I'll just change my vote."

"But…" Rosalind began.

"Hound never chooses me anyway." Skye said. "Besides, I'm tired of sitting around talking with a mystery like this sitting right next to us." She walked forward, and grabbed the handle. "Stand back."

"Absolutely not." Rosalind said. "If anyone's going to risk this, it's going to be me."

"Too late." Skye said. She twisted the handle ninety degrees, then shoved it forward.


	5. Writings and Memory

**To: [REDACTED]**

 **From: [REDACTED]**

 **Subject: RE:Awakening**

 **After reviewing the incident report, I would suggest that we withdraw from 154B and continue to observe from a distance. I have forwarded this account to [REDACTED]'s investigation: the parallels with B001's prophesy are striking. Sterilization would be premature at this time, especially considering the origin of the youths involved.**

 **Keep me informed, this may turn out to be of greater significance than initially assumed.**

* * *

For a long moment, nothing happened. Rosalind exhaled, realizing for the first time that she'd been holding her breath. Skye released the handle and stepped backwards, examining their surroundings. "Huh" she said. "Maybe something's broken?"

There was a sharp clatter, and the floor began to tremble. Skye lept backwards as the mosaic split in two, the two halves sliding apart to reveal a staircase that spiraled upwards.

The Penderwicks huddled together as the world came to life around them. Machinery shuddered to life after decades of immobility, and they felt the air stir as fans began to push the stagnant air into motion. A terrible screech cut across the other sounds, echoing back from the way they'd come. After what felt like hours, the tumult began to recede, settling itself into a steady hum.

Rosalind glared at Skye as the sister untangled themselves. "Seriously?" she demanded. "You could have been killed!"

"So I should have let you pull it instead?" Skye retorted.

"I'm Oldest Available Penderwick!" Rosalind countered. "I'm supposed to keep you all safe!"

"That doesn't include dying for us!" Skye said.

"C'mon!" Jane called. Rosalind looked over her shoulder and bit back a yelp.

Batty was quickly climbing up the stairs, Hound following close behind her. Jane turned to follow, and Rosalind shot Skye with a dirty look.

"What?" Skye asked, already following. "It's not like we were just gonna head home and leave a mystery like this sitting here." She turned back as she began to ascend. "Well? Are you coming?"

Rosalind sighed, but followed her sisters up.

* * *

The others stood inside a small room, by some sort of table. Jane was looking at a piece of paper, examining the strange symbols that covered it. Batty had a necklace with a large blue stone, and was holding it out for Hound to sniff.

"Look what we found!" Batty called, holding up the necklace. She ran over, and offered it to Rosalind. "It's a present for you" Batty said. "Since you didn't get what you wanted earlier."

Rosalind sighed. "Jewelry isn't going to change anything." she said. "I care about your safety, not winning a vote."

"Will you still wear it though?" Batty asked. "Please?"

Rosalind sighed, but took the amulet. "Fine." she said.

"Don't" Jane yelped. "It might be cursed!"

"Hound says it's fine." Batty said.

"I'm sure I'll survive." Rosalind said, fastening it around her neck.

"This looks like a workbench of some sort." Skye said, joining Jane.

"A writer's desk." Jane said, pulling out a drawer. "see? There's pens and ink in here."

Skye frowned as she looked at the page of symbols. "Could I see the teleport book?" she asked Rosalind.

Rosalind pulled it back out from her backpack. "Don't touch the picture." she cautioned.

"Of course not." Skye said, taking the book. She placed it on the workbench next to Jane's page, then carefully flipped to the second page. "Look." she said to Jane.

"What?" Rosalind asked, walking over.

"This." Skye said, pointing to both paper and book. "The symbol matches." Sure enough, both held the same pinwheel shape.

"Same here!" Jane said excitedly, pointing to what looked like a pair of commas. "This must be where they wrote the teleporter books!"

"And this is some sort of symbol index." Skye said, picking up the page. "No definitions, though."

"Not all the symbols are included." Jane said, looking at the book. "Maybe there are more sheets?"

"C'mon!" Batty called. "Hound's getting bored!" Girl and dog ran through the door.

Rosalind hurried after her, Skye close behind. "Wait up!" she called. "Don't just rush ahead like that!"

Jane groaned, but picked up the teleport book and followed.

The older Penderwick sisters stared down a long hallway, with doors at irregular intervals. However, Rosalind didn't waste time sightseeing, as Batty and Hound were already vanishing through the nearest doorway.

This room was lined with beds. Rosalind looked around, and felt a surge of panic. Her little sister was nowhere to be found.

"Batty? Batty?" Rosalind said, walking down the middle.

"Boo!" Batty shouted, popping out from underneath one of the beds.

Rosalind jumped, then gave her little sister a dirty look. "Was that really necessary?" she demanded.

"No." Skye laughed, standing in the doorway. "It was funny though."

"Sorry." Batty said, crawling out from underneath the bed. "I wanted to see if monsters could fit under there."

"So what is this room, anyway?" Skye asked, looking around. "Sleeping quarters?"

"A hospital." Jane said. "Remember what the diary said about a plague?"

Rosalind gasped. The amulet had gone ice cold. Her hand grasped at the stone as it began to vibrate against her chest.

 _Rosalind clings to her little sister's hand._

 _Ania struggles, eyes glowing white. "It wasn't enough!" she screams. "Unity will be insufficient, Destiny shall go awry!"_

 _"Just lie still." Rosalind pleads._

 _"There may still be hope." Ania says, as the light fades. "Stranger's Blood will ignite the inferno, perhaps it can also repair their tampered fate." As her eyes return to their normal pale white, she turns to Rosalind. "Your journal?"_

 _"What?" Rosalind asks. She had not told anyone about her private writing._

 _"Put it underneath my painting." Ania says. "Show them the way"_

 _"Show who the way?" Rosalind asks._

 _"The journey was never ours to fulfil." Ania says, with faraway smile. "We've laid the path, it will be up to others to travel along it." She closes her eyes, and her body finally relaxes._

 _"No...no...no" Rosalind grasps at Ania's wrist as the girl's breathing slows to a stop. Her pulse fades as the Sickness claims its newest victim._

 _Rosalind pulls the sheet over her sister's face, then stumbles out of the room. And she knows nothing but despair, for the Prophet is dead… and all is lost._

As abruptly as the sensation had appeared, it vanished. Rosalind stumbled as she tried to regain her bearings.

"What's wrong?" Jane asked.

Rosalind inhaled, resisting the urge to hyperventilate. "We need to go home" she said. "Now."

"Why?" Skye asked. She shot Rosalind with a quizzical look. "That necklace isn't actually cursed, was it?"

"I don't think so." Rosalind said. "But something's not right here. We need to leave before someone gets hurt"

"So what?" Skye asked. "Just go back and pretend that all this isn't here?"

"We'll show the necklace to Daddy, and tell him all about what we found." Rosalind said. "He'll figure out what to do."

Skye led the way back down the stairs, then began climbing up the ladder. "What the heck?" she said, as she reached the top.

"What?" Batty asked, following close behind. "Oh."

Four doorways had opened at even points down the hallway, each blocked off by a metal grate.  
"It's locked." Jane said, rattling at the gateway. "Looks like the latch is on the other side."

"There's a hacksaw in the garage." Skye said. "I bet that could cut through."

"Never mind that." Rosalind said. "We can look at them later with Daddy." she placed the teleportation book back on its pedestal and opened it to the first page. "Jane, you first."

Jane sighed, but tapped the image and vanished.

"Batty?"

Batty gave puppy dog eyes, but Rosalind held firm. When Batty realized it was a lost cause, she grabbed Hound's collar and touched the page. Both girl and dog vanished into the book.

"Skye?"

Skye scowled. "This feels cowardly." she complained.

"You'll survive." Rosalind said. Skye touched the page and vanished. Rosalind took one last look around the hallway, then followed.

Once again, Rosalind heard the same chord echoing through the darkness, then in a flash of gold, the woods reappeared around her.

"Let's go." Skye muttered, and leading the way towards home. All the same, Rosalind made sure to stay at the rear as they passed through the woods, suspecting that she might attempt to double back.

* * *

"Back so soon?" Mr. Penderwick asked as he stirred the soup.

"So soon?" Skye asked.

"You've only been gone for half an hour" he said, smiling. "Did you get cold?"

"Thirty minutes?" Jane asked.

"I guess we were having so much fun it felt longer than that." Rosalind said before Jane could continue. While she planned to tell her father about the necklace and Juncture, that wasn't the sort of thing that one could discuss in a room full of siblings, while supper cooked on the stove.

"Duck!" Rosalind turned, and saw her younger brother toddling out from under the table.

"Ben!" Batty said, picking him up. "We played soccer by the big statue, and I kicked the ball really hard, and it bounced off the face, and then…" Rosalind's stern look stopped her.

"then…. it took us a while to find it, and when we did, we didn't feel like soccer anymore." Jane improvised.

"Well, go get cleaned up, and set the table for supper." Mr. Penderwick said. "sine labore non erit panis in ore"


	6. Return

After dinner was done, and the dishes had been washed, Skye sat on her bed, flipping through "A World Like Our Own". _Four light-years away, Red Dwarf… Rats. Next one._

"What are you doing?" Jane asked, her voice coming from her side of the room.

Skye didn't bother looking up. "This book has a list of nearby solar systems, so I'm trying to figure out if any of them match that place."

Jane laughed. "You're wasting your time. It's magic! You can't use science to figure out magic."

Skye gritted her teeth. "Magic doesn't exist."

"But…"

"I know what happened this afternoon, Jane. That just means that we've found an undiscovered form of science." Skye said, crossing Proxima Centauri off her list, and moving on to the next page.

" _Two stars, Blue Giant and a White Dwarf… Maybe? It all depends on…"_

"How does this sound?" Jane asked, shattering Skye's concentration. Skye glared at Jane, who was again scribbling in that stupid notebook of hers. "Sabrina Star Rescues the Prophet!"

"And you say I'm wasting my time?" Skye demanded. "You're writing about saving some lunatic who's been dead since before you were born!"

"She wasn't a lunatic, and I'm not wasting my time!" said Jane, looking hurt. "A good writer needs to write what she knows, and I know all about Ania and Juncture!"

"We don't even know where the heck the place is." said Skye, returning to her book. _No known planets. Probably not, but I can't be sure. Of course, if it's far away, they wouldn't know if it had planets anyway. Say, I might be able to figure out whether it's in our galaxy! That way I'd at least know whether it's close._

"Hey Jane?" Skye said.

"What?" Jane demanded, still smarting from the earlier insult

"Do you remember seeing the Milky Way from Juncture?"

"The what?" Jane asked, still examining her notebook.

"This." Skye said, holding up a picture.

Jane glanced at the page, then looked back down. "Maybe?" she said. "I didn't spend much time looking outside."

Skye grimaced, but couldn't really argue with that, having also been too distracted to examine the stars.

Skye could go back and check, of course, but Rosalind had said that they couldn't go back until Daddy said it was safe. "In other words, probably never" she muttered to herself.

Skye walked over to the windowsill and climbed out onto the roof. She focused her binoculars, trying to pick out the statue from among the trees. Skye thought that she could see it, but in the darkness, it was hard to make out anything other than a pale blur. Skye wanted to yell in frustration. _Ten minutes. Two minutes out, two minutes back, a minute to open the statue, and five minutes to take a look._

Not that it mattered. She'd have to sneak past half her family before she could even make it to the door. Normally, Skye could simply say that she was looking for Asimov, but Rosalind wouldn't buy the story tonight.

"Mrowwwrrr!" A yowl interrupted her mental ranting. A few feet away, Iantha's cat clung to the old oak tree. "Dumb animal" Skye said. She reached out with her arms, offering a landing pad. Asimov gave her a disdainful look, then jumped onto the shingles behind her. The cat licked his paw, then leaped through the window.

"Doesn't know how lucky he is." Skye mumbled. "Nobody ever stops him from going out." She trailed off, looking at the old oak in a new light. Most of those branches ought to be able to support her weight, if she took it slow, and while Rosalind had said that the five of them couldn't go back to Juncture, she hadn't said that Skye couldn't go back on her own.

Her decision made, Skye stepped back, then threw herself across the gap. She wrapped her arms around the trunk, and her feet found purchase against two of the limbs. Skye exhaled and relaxed. Just as she prepared to climb down, there was a sharp crack under her left foot.

 _Uh oh..._

* * *

As she walked through the dining room, Rosalind paused at a sudden chill from her chest. She peeked under her shirt, to see the necklace's gemstone faintly glowing. "I forgot I was wearing it." she muttered, carefully fishing out the amulet.

 _"NO!" Rosalind snaps, turning away from her sister. "Not now, not ever."_

 _"Please, won't you at least consider it?" Claire persists._ " _Elizabeth worried that-"_

" _She shouldn't have." Rosalind says, turning away. "I have the girls to look after, and they're family aplenty-_

" _And when they've grown?" Claire asks. "It'll be a short five years until Rosie's off to college, and Jane and Skye close behind her."_

 _Struggling to answer, Rosalind instead throws open the door, stumbling out of the kitchen and away from Claire. Alarmed, her daughters stumble backwards._

 _"It's alright girls." Rosalind placates them. "Not a tragedy. More of a comedy, or perhaps a tragicomedy. Come back in."_

Her vision flashed, and the image vanished. Disoriented, Rosalind let go of the necklace and grabbed onto a chair to steady herself. _Again? That was last year… that was Daddy, wasn't it?_ She waited for a moment, but when the sensation failed to come back, Rosalind shook off her confusion and continued into the living room.

"Hey Daddy?" Rosalind asked, walking over to where her father sat reading. "Could I talk to you alone for a moment?"

"Of course, Rosie" he said, standing up. He motioned her into the front room for privacy, and closed the door. "Are you dying from a mysterious illness?"  
"Of course not!" Rosalind said.

"Then it's Jane who's dying?" he asked, smiling. "No? It must be Skye then."

"Daddy..."

"Batty? Hound? Me?"

"DADDY!"

Mr. Penderwick chuckled. "Well, if no one's dying, it can't be all that bad. What seems to be the trouble?"

"Well, today when we were in the woods," Rosalind began, but hesitated. Through the window, a large branch bounced onto the driveway. She could have sworn that she could hear a faint yelp.

"Anyway, we were playing soccer in the woods, and Batty accidentally kicked the ball into that old statue of George Washington." Rosalind continued, but her focus remained on the window. That was a pretty big branch, and it didn't look very windy out.

"Did you damage the statue?" her father asked. "If so, I wouldn't worry too much about it. That old thing's been there for decades, and nobody has any idea who put it up in the first place."

"Not...exactly" Rosalind said, but then a shadow slipped down from the tree. It crept down the road, avoiding the glare of the streetlight, then vanished into the gloom of the trees.

"Well, if it would make you feel any better, I can call the park district and ask them to take a look."  
"I don't think that'll be necessary." Rosalind said, hurrying out of the room and towards the front door. "Would you excuse me for a second?" Without waiting for an answer, she ran to get her coat.

"Where are you going?" Iantha called from in the living room.

"I think I forgot my backpack in the woods. I'll be back in a moment!" Rosalind said, charging out the door.

As she entered the woods, Rosalind didn't waste time looking around. She made a beeline for the statue, knowing exactly where her sister would be going.

She reached the clearing just as the panel was beginning to slide back. Rosalind reached in and pulled out the book just before it clattered to a halt. She opened the book, knowing exactly what she'd see.

Through the panel, Rosalind saw Skye standing inside the hallway. Skye looked around, then jogged out of the frame.

"So much for Penderwick family honor" Rosalind muttered. She hesitated for a moment, but followed her sister through.


End file.
